An old, neglected dog abandoned outside an animal hospital in Manhattan Sunday will not need to be euthanized, thanks to donations and interest from potential adoptive families that poured in after an NBC 4 New York report aired about its plight, the animal hospital said.
The chow chow was left outside the Riverside Animal Hospital on West 108th Street by a man who's later seen on security video walking away, appearing to make a sign of the cross.
The veterinarians who rescued the pup guessed the man simply didn't know what else to do with the dog.
"It was emaciated, it was very weak, dehydrated," said Georgia Weber, the veterinarian who treated him. "All its fur was matted together. Three technicians spent four hours clipping it."
Veterinarian Phillip Raclyn had said the dog was very ill and his clinic wasn't equipped to keep it. He asked for donations to send the canine to a farm upstate where it could live, and said the dog would have to be put down next week if no financial support came in.
On Wednesday, Riverside Animal Hospital authorities said they had secured enough interest and donations to save the chow chow. One person who works there said the phone was ringing so often they couldn't answer every call. The hospital is working on finding a permanent home for the dog.
